


Extraction

by 00AwkwardPenguin00



Series: Dragon of the Yuyan [29]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Episode: s02e17 Lake Laogai, Gen, Mission: IMPOSSIBLE (ATLA edition), Toph Beifong and Zuko are Siblings, Toph gets her life-changing field trip with Zuko, Zuko finally puts his training to use, and canon DIDN'T PUT THIS INFORMATION TO USE????, are you telling me Toph can SEE UNDERGROUND, co-starring: the Little Badgermole!, in an UNDERGROUND FORTRESS????, the Blue Spirit strikes again!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-14
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:49:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27561031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/00AwkwardPenguin00/pseuds/00AwkwardPenguin00
Summary: They've spentwaylonger in this spirits-cursed city than they really should have, and Zuko's had enough. When Ba Sing Se's ridiculous bureaucracy shuts down their attempts to find Appa, he decides it's time to take matters into his own hands.
Relationships: Aang & Appa (Avatar), Aang & Katara & Sokka & Toph & Zuko (Avatar), Appa & Toph Beifong, Appa & Zuko (Avatar), The Gaang & Zuko (Avatar), Toph Beifong & Zuko
Series: Dragon of the Yuyan [29]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1582384
Comments: 233
Kudos: 2135





	Extraction

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MuffinLance](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MuffinLance/gifts), [Haicrescendo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Haicrescendo/gifts).
  * Inspired by [To Take Cover](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23824927) by [Haicrescendo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Haicrescendo/pseuds/Haicrescendo). 



> So this installment is dedicated to Haicrescendo (@sword-and-stars over on Tumblr), and her fabulous _What We're Given_ series. She and I had the idea for how to redux the Lake Laogai episode at roughly the same time, and she won the posting race by a _lot_. Honestly, I think her version is better 😅
> 
> Hope you enjoy, Hai!

The final straw occurs five weeks after the dinner party with Uncle.

Sokka is currently attempting to draw Appa for the “Missing Appa” posters and fliers they’re planning to put up. Toph is either meditating or taking a nap (it’s not too clear which), and Zuko glances at her over his new play script every so often to check that she’s still breathing.

The door to the house opens, and Katara and Aang run inside, flush with success.

“We found a printer to make our posters!” Katara declares, holding up a splendidly illustrated poster depicting Appa and declaring S _earching for a flying sky bison_. Aang points to it in emphasis with a big grin.

Sokka sits up and scowls. “Hey, I thought designing the lost Appa poster was my job? I’ve been working all day on my Appa!”

The ink drawing he holds up has only the vaguest passing resemblance to their missing friend, and the younger kids waste no time in roasting the warrior’s “artistic talents”.

They divvy up the posters and fliers and split up to distribute them. Zuko drops a large bunch of leaflets with Uncle at his new Upper Ring shop, then tosses the rest around the public areas of the Upper Ring while roof-running. He ends up being the first one back to the house, and does some weapons maintenance and archery practice while waiting for the others.

Toph and Sokka return next, with Katara soon afterward bearing lunch. After eating, she and Sokka settle into a card game while Zuko and Toph get into a debate about Earth Kingdom vs Fire Nation theater.

Aang returns mid-afternoon, eager and impatient for news. Katara chides him, but the moment he slumps down at the table, there’s a knock at the door.

“Wow, patience really pays off!” Aang chirps, leaping up to answer the door. “ _Joo Dee?_ ”

Goosebumps break out over Zuko’s skin as Joo Dee—their original one, not the even creepier replacement—steps through the door and greets them individually with that same creepy too-wide smile.

And then she tries to tell them off for putting up their Missing Appa posters.

Zuko counts it as a minor miracle that Aang doesn’t blow the entire house up as he loses his temper.

“That could come back to bite us in the blubber,” Sokka points out.

“I don’t care,” Aang declares. “From now on we do whatever it takes to find Appa.”

_Finally._ Zuko places a hand on Aang’s shoulder, getting his attention before beginning to sign.

_**I have an idea, but I need you to be patient a little while longer.** _

Aang looks mutinous, but gives a stiff nod.

“What’s your idea, Zuko?” Katara asks, and Zuko smirks.

_**The Yuyan Archers are a force that specializes in reconnaissance, infiltration, and precision attacks,**_ he explains. **_We’re called demons by enemy forces because we can get in and out of places without leaving a trace. So I’m going to do what I was trained for. What I need you guys to do is maintain normalcy as a cover. Stay in, order a ton of takeout, wait for word on Appa. Save some food for us._** He turns to Toph, waits for Sokka to finish interpreting, and taps out _wanna break into Dai Li HQ with me?_ on her shoulder.

Toph lights up like a Summer Solstice firework. “Would I?!”

They make plans, Sokka and Toph and Zuko communicating through the signal taps to avoid the Dai Li overhearing. Zuko entrusts his bow and quiver and throwing knives to Sokka, and packs a small bag with dark clothes for himself and Toph. They wait until a couple of hours before sunset, and then Toph starts making noise about wanting to go to a Lower Ring night market. Sokka and Katara groan about being exhausted from all of the walking around and putting up posters they did today, and Aang declines with a dejected murmur about waiting for tips on Appa.

“Party poopers,” Toph snorts. “Looks like it’s just you and me, Sparky.”

Zuko straps on his dao and taps on her arm, _Let’s go._

They take the train to the Lower Ring neighborhood where the night market is, and have a light snack of meat skewers as they wander randomly around to shake any tails they may have picked up. Zuko spots a cart selling theater masks, and drags Toph over. He quickly finds a replacement for his Blue Spirit mask, as well as a badgermole mask that doesn’t have eyeholes.

_Try this on,_ he taps on her shoulder before pressing the badgermole mask into her hands.

“A mask?” She asks, running her fingers over the smooth lacquer before holding it up to her face. It’s a bit big on her, meant more for an adult than for a child, but it should hold if tied tight enough. “What do I need a mask for?”

_Anonymity_ , Zuko replies. _Can’t risk ID if seen._

“Makes sense,” she shrugs.

Zuko pays for the masks and stows them in the bag with their stealth clothes. Night has fallen fully, and they’re right on the edge of one of the “seedier” neighborhoods of the Lower Ring, which is sure to have a greater Dai Li presence than the more affluent area the night market is being held in.

He and Toph wander away from the market and into the “seedier” neighborhood, looking for a dark alley in which to change into their stealth clothes. The street-lamps in this neighborhood are nonexistent, either broken or unlit or missing altogether, so it’s pretty easy to find a secluded spot.

Once they’re dressed and masked, Zuko uses the clothes he’d previously been wearing to fashion a rough dummy in the vague shape of the Blue Spirit. With how dark this area is, any Dai Li agent they lure in won’t notice the trap until it’s too late.

The trap works perfectly, and they snag a lone agent surprisingly quickly. Between Toph’s… Toph-ness, and the blades crossed dangerously close to his throat, the agent soon sings like a sparrowkeet. Zuko knocks him out and ties him up once they have the information they need.

“Lake Laogai,” Toph pronounces with disgust. “It’s gonna take all night to get there from here. Are the trains even still running?”

Surprisingly, they are. They ride on the roof simply because they can, and the trip doesn’t actually take as long as Toph was afraid it would.

They arrive on the banks of the lake as the half moon is rising over the mountains, washing everything in pale white light or deep shadows. Toph paces the lake’s shoreline for a few moments, then with an artistic little jump, raises a narrow structure almost like a jetty with a round end.

“The entire place is under the lake,” she says quietly as they open the manhole cover and peer down into the deep tunnel below. “I can’t get a good read of the layout until I’m down in there.”

Zuko squeezes her shoulder in affirmation, then descends down the metal ladder rungs drilled into the wall. He nearly breaks all his toes when his foot slips on the wet metal and slams into the wall, and he has to stop and breathe slowly to calm his racing heart.

_Careful,_ he taps onto the wall, _slick._

“No shit,” Toph grumbles, hanging on for dear life.

They make it down without any further mishaps, and then down some (Agni-blessed regular) stairs. Zuko keeps his hand on his dao as Toph digs her toes into the rock floor.

_Enormous,_ she taps with a scowl. _Too big to see clearly. Also crowded. This way._

Toph leads the way through a rabbiroo’s warren of dimly lit corridors, avoiding the larger and more brightly lit ones that have Dai Li strolling along in pairs like couples on dates in the large Upper Ring parks. They have to pause a few times for Toph to get her bearings, but the last time they do so, her entire body goes rigid after less than a minute and she takes off like a bending-propelled boulder, almost too fast for Zuko to keep up.

She stops at what looks like a bare stretch of brick wall, and with a stomp of her foot, opens a doorway in it just tall enough for Zuko to pass through without having to duck. As soon as he’s through, she closes it back up seamlessly.

A rumbling growl reaches his ears as the sound of earthbending fades away, and Zuko turns to find Appa, chained and dirty but _alive_ in all his ten ton glory, standing in the middle of the huge cell.

_Finally,_ Zuko thinks with relief. Appa is definitely on edge from being underground and handled by strangers, and Zuko is appalled at the state of the bison’s fur, but he doesn’t look otherwise injured. Just pissed off and almost scared half out of his wits, judging by the rolling thunder of a growl that hasn’t let up since they came in.

Toph squeaks and makes to throw herself at the bison, but Zuko snags the back of her tunic before she can.

“Hey cinderbrain, what gives?!” She hisses.

_He’s scared,_ Zuko taps on her shoulder. _Rushing is bad. Slow and steady._

He pulls off his gloves and mask and places them gently on the floor, then takes off his dao and sets them down beside everything else. Deepening his breathing and calling his chi to his hands to warm them, he takes slow, careful steps toward the bison.

Appa continues to growl, Zuko can feel the sound reverberating in his own chest, and he stops when he’s sure that Appa can see him clearly. Aang had mentioned once that sky-bison night vision wasn’t great, and for a moment he wonders if bending a flame into his hands for light would be a good idea.

Probably not, he decides, since they have no idea what Appa’s been through this last month or so, and now’s not the time to make a mistake and potentially get caught if the bison freaks out. Restrained he may be, but he’s still a ten ton airbending animal, and Zuko knows from experience that Appa can make a lot of noise when he wants to.

Instead, Zuko closes his eyes and calls his inner fire up into his chest, warming the air in his lungs that he blows out with every exhale. Soon the air around him is warm and steadily getting warmer, and the rattle of chains and the sound of bison paws against the floor tells him that Appa is coming to him. He keeps his eyes closed and his body relaxed as a huge bison nose snuffles at his hair, and then there’s a roll of happy thunder as Appa croons in recognition. Zuko opens his eyes and grins, and pats the bison gently on the nose with a chi-warmed hand.

“My turn?” Toph whispers hopefully. Zuko turns and nods, giving Appa one last pat before backing away.

_Slow,_ he taps out on the stone floor. _Gentle._

Toph creeps up towards Appa, taking off her own mask and tossing it for Zuko to catch.

“Appa?” She whispers. “Appa, I’m so sorry. I couldn’t stop them from taking you. The sandstorm… I couldn’t see… I’m so _sorry_ , Appa.”

Appa doesn’t seem to hold a grudge against Toph, or he’s more confident now that one person hasn’t hurt or scared him, or both, because he immediately starts rumbling happily and snuffling all over the earthbender, causing her to giggle like the little girl she is. Zuko grins and straps his swords and mask back on, then pulls on his gloves. A few moments concentrating on building up his chi in his hands some more, and his gloves are now just as warm as the rest of him. He grabs Toph’s badgermole mask and hands it to her, then helps her tie it on when she asks.

_Keep him calm,_ he taps on her shoulder when he’s done. _Going to unlock cuffs._ Toph doesn’t bother replying, enjoying Appa nuzzling her and snuffling at her hair and clothes.

Zuko smirks, and paces around to the first of Appa’s six feet. The cuffs are quality iron, but the quality of the forging isn't as high as Zuko would’ve expected to see from the obviously excellently-funded Dai Li. They’d been made in a hurry, probably as soon as Long Feng had realized that holding the Avatar's bison for blackmail was an option. The lock is exactly what Zuko had expected, though, and it takes a few minutes with his lockpicks to get it to yield to him.

His jaw hurts from how hard he's been clenching it by the time he's done with all six cuffs, and Appa rears up happily on his back two legs, spreading his front four wide like he's about to grab someone in a hug.

"Ready to bust out of here, big guy?" Toph asks, a bloodthirsty grin in her voice.

_How close to surface?_ Zuko taps out, slipping his lockpicks back into his boot.

Toph taps her heel against the floor, then says, "Right through the ceiling. Probably the way they got him in here in the first place. It's a few hundred feet of rock, but there's no water above it."

Looking up, Zuko can see a ventilation shaft that's probably as wide as he's tall, and stars glittering at the top. Probably their best and only option, since he can't imagine Appa being okay with being dragged around underground back to the manhole they'd entered through.

The bison rumbles impatiently, and Zuko nods. _Okay,_ he taps out. _Make a path?_

It takes everything Zuko has not to bust out a full-blown panic attack as Toph lifts them up through the ceiling and the _few hundred feet of rock_ that separate them from the surface. He's gotten a lot better about earthbending since Toph joined up, but it doesn't change the fact that he’s still _fucking claustrophobic_. He presses himself against Appa’s leg and waits for it to be over.

And suddenly it is. The shaking and rumbling stop, and Zuko lifts his face from Appa’s fur to sigh silently in relief at the dome of bright stars overhead.

“Move your ass, Sparky,” Toph demands. Zuko grabs hold of the closest horn, swings himself up onto Appa’s head, and swiftly ties up some reins the way Aang had taught him when he’d first joined up. With a gentle flick, he and Appa are airborne, flying in low, lazy circles while the bison reacquaints himself with the air and Zuko takes stock of wherever the fuck they’ve ended up.

“All done!” Toph yells up at them, and Zuko brings a grudging Appa in for landing. Toph wastes no time hopping on and wrapping herself around Zuko’s arm.

_You wiped the slate?_ He taps on her knee.

“Not a fucking amateur, Sparky,” she snaps back. “Everything’s pristine.”

Of course that’s when a fucking _horde_ of Dai Li agents erupt out of the ground and surround them, Koh-damned Long Feng taking point right in front of Appa’s nose.

“The Blue Spirit, I presume,” he says in that awful deep purring voice that makes Zuko want to tear his ears off and throw them away. He also really wants to smack that infuriating smirk off the bastard's face. “And an accomplice… new, but perhaps not terribly surprising. Shall we call you the Little Badgermole?”

Zuko feels Toph tense up and can hear the breath she takes to reply, and clamps his hand down hard on her knee. _Stay silent,_ he taps out rapidly. _Voice ID._

“You have proven yourselves enemies of the state,” Long Feng declares. “Take them into custody.”

You fucking wish! Zuko thinks as he draws his dao and leaps from Appa’s head. Toph is right behind him, easily deflecting flying rocks as Zuko and his blades whirl around, smashing the hilts into heads. The agents are fast, and Master Earthbenders to a man, but Zuko is faster, and these guys have never really fought firebending swordsmen before. It takes a bit, but soon there's a bunch of Dai Li collapsed unconscious at their feet, and surprisingly, Long Feng hasn't fled to try and recoup his loss.

The dictator growls and holds up his fists in a ready stance. "I can take care of you myself," he sneers, and launches himself into the air from a rock.

However, before Zuko or Toph can do anything, Appa growls like a building thunderstorm and clamps his teeth around Long Feng's outstretched leg. There's a bit of a gross _snap_ , and then Appa almost _gently_ turns his head and tosses Long Feng away with a grunt. The man goes flying down the hillside and into the lake with a trailing yell and a splash.

For a moment, all the three of them do is stand dumbly, and then Appa spits out Long Feng's shoe with a snort.

Zuko nearly cracks his own ribs with the force of his laughter.

"C'mon Sparky, let's get back to the others," Toph chortles, raising a rock column and hopping neatly onto Appa's head. Zuko scrambles up, still snickering breathlessly, and flicks the reins.

"Appa, _yip yip_!" Toph trills, and the bison lifts off.

They land in the back garden just as the sky is starting to lighten in the east. Toph slides down and immediately stumbles off to her and Katara's room for a well earned nap, but all Zuko does is have a quick wash and change his clothes before settling down to make tea. As he goes through the motions, his shoulders and back slowly relax, and by the time the tea is ready to drink, he's practically melted into the table.

The door to the boys' bedroom opens, and Aang pads out as the sun just starts to peek over the Upper Ring hills.

"Zuko? Did you find anything?" He whispers, big gray eyes hopeful.

Zuko grunts and flaps a hand toward the back garden.

He's asleep before Aang's cry of delighted relief reaches his ears.

**Author's Note:**

> Next time: **Sacrifice**


End file.
